The Williams Women
by FrancesOsgood
Summary: There are always risks involved when it comes to love, and no one knows that better than the Williams women.
1. Chapter 1

Sarah Williams had always known that her paternal grandparents were…well, odd. And while she wasn't related to them by blood (her father was adopted) she'd always felt a strange kinship to them. They were a funny little couple with funny little accents and funny little quirks, but Sarah found them charming.

Her grandfather had been a nurse, but her grandmother had a laundry list of unusual jobs she had held during her life: a waitress, a Kiss-o-gram, a travelling companion, and even a fashion model. However, when she and Sarah's grandfather moved to the United States from England, she began to write stories.

Sarah loved her grandmother's adventure stories. Her brave young heroine went on wild quests fighting pirates and outerspace dinosaurs and strange one-eyed cyborgs and living statues. The stories were full of danger and mystery and just a touch of humor and Sarah loved how one minute she would be laughing and the next anxiously biting her fingernails and wondering how the heroine would ever triumph. But she always did.

Sarah had spent several long weekends and a few Christmases with her grandparents in New York City, but she began spending more time with them once she moved to the city to go to school. Most afternoons when classes were over, Sarah headed to their house for tea and lemon cookies and a good story from her grandmother. She had often pondered whether or not she should tell her grandmother _her_ story, the story of the labyrinth. She had always tried to write it off as a dream borne of teenage frustration and angst and too much reading. Yet, it had never faded as a dream should. It was always fresh and vivid in her mind, full of life and color and emotion.

She wondered about her friends now, the dwarf and the fox/dog/knight and the rock-caller. She wondered if they were all right. She thought about the goblins and the fieries and the Wise Man and his talking hat. Mostly though, she thought about the Goblin King. Why wouldn't she? Sarah remembered how he had stood in her parents' bedroom, regal and smirking and darkly beautiful. He had terrified her and intrigued her and flustered her and aroused her all at once. She had barely been mature enough to realize what arousal was and, if she were honest with herself, he hadn't truly made her feel anything sexual toward him. However, he had awakened something in her that from that day forward had never been put back to bed.

Perhaps that's why she was so distracted that afternoon as she sat in her grandmother's kitchen, her tea cold and her lemon cookies untouched. She was thinking about _him_ and wondering exactly what it was that he had been offering before she'd said the words that had undone him.

"Hey Kiddo," said her grandmother, snapping her fingers. "What's up? You went all spacey on me."

Sarah looked up at her grandmother and smiled. She loved the way she talked, and not just her lilting Scottish accent. Her phrasing was so strangely youthful and urban.

"Sorry, Gran," said Sarah. "I'm just a bit distracted today."

"Ya think?" her grandmother answered with a laugh. She sat down across from Sarah and reached over to pat her on the hand. "So, what's on your mind? School? Parents? Boys?" She raised an eyebrow on the last one and Sarah had to smile.

"I don't know, Gran," she answered. "I suppose you could say it's about a boy. Or man. Or whatever the hell he is…" Sarah stopped herself and looked back at her grandmother, half expecting to see a look of confusion and dismay. Instead, her grandmother gave her a wink and a knowing smile.

"I think," she said as she poured herself another cup of tea, "you should tell me the whole story."

Sarah nodded and after swallowing the huge lump in her throat she began telling her grandmother the story of her adventure in the labyrinth. She left nothing out, even the bit about the peach and the dance and the Goblin King's somewhat cryptic final offer. When she was finished, she sat back in her seat and waited as her grandmother digested what she had been told.

"Well," the old woman said at last. "It sounds as if you had yourself quite the adventure."

"You mean you believe me?" Sarah asked incredulously.

"Of course," replied her grandmother. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Um, because it's crazy?" offered Sarah.

Her grandmother laughed. "You know nothing about crazy, Kid. Crazy is being vomited up by a Star Whale or being chased by alien vampires in Venice or forgetting your fiancé then remembering him and finding out he's made of plastic and wants to kill you and does but then waits two thousand years in order to save you and you meet yourself when you were a kid in order to keep the Universe from unraveling." She paused and took a breath. "That is crazy."

Sarah blinked at her grandmother. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sarah, you're not the only one who's had wild adventures," her grandmother told her. "Wild adventures seem to be our family's lot. Well, expect for your father and that's just because his only concern in life has always been making money."

Sarah nodded. It was sad but true. Her dad had a wonderful work ethic, but absolutely no imagination.

"So…" her grandmother began, eyeing her suspiciously over the rim of her tea cup. "What do you think this Goblin King was offering you at the end?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. I've never been able to figure it out for sure. He seemed so desperate then, even fragile. I felt like it had gone beyond him keeping Toby. Like maybe he wanted…"

"What?"

"It's so stupid," huffed Sarah. "Why would he want...I mean, I was fifteen and immature. He couldn't have been asking…No, I think I've got it all wrong."

Sarah's grandmother gazed at her. "I don't think you've got it all wrong," she said seriously. "I think he was asking for exactly what you think he was and offering exactly what you think he was."

Sarah's head snapped up and her mouth fell open at her grandmother's words. "But why? Why would he want me?" she asked.

Her grandmother gave her a knowing smile. "Sarah dear, you proved yourself worthy. Not only did you fight for your brother, but you won! From what I've read of the Fey, that takes some doing and they are always impressed by mortals who can challenge them and best them at their own games."

"So what then? He thought I was worthy of his interest because I beat his game?"

"Didn't you say he danced with you before you made it to the castle?" the old woman asked.

"Yes, but he was just trying to distract me."

"Really? He couldn't think of another way to distract you than to put you in an adult dress in the middle of a lurid masked ball and dance with you?"

Sarah was confused. What was her grandmother getting at?

"Okay, so maybe he just wanted to get into my pants. I don't know, Gran!" she cried.

"Well then, maybe you should find out," her grandmother said, taking a big bite out of a lemon cookie.

Sarah shook her head. "No way, Gran. I am not going to call on him again. He's dangerous and deceitful and tricky. I don't trust him."

"Are you sure you don't trust him, or is it that you don't trust yourself _around_ him?" her grandmother questioned.

"Both," Sarah answered honestly. "He's cunning and beautiful like that stupid snake in the Garden of Eden. He says pretty things and he can look into your eyes and know what you dream and desire. He promises it all to you and it sounds too good to be true and it most likely is, Gran!"

Sarah shuddered thinking about how for one terrifying millisecond, she had been tempted by him and his offer. A brief thought of "what if?" had floated through her mind as she stood in that crumbling tower with the clock ticking somewhere in the background. She had burst that bubble before it had fully formed, but her heart still felt a pang of guilt that it had even been a thought at all. He had been so beautiful and had looked at her so pitifully. Of course, it could have been just another brilliant performance by him, an accomplished trickster, but he had _seemed_ genuine.

"Sarah, are you in love with him?" her grandmother asked softly.

"I…I…No, I don't know…I wish I knew what he wanted. Then maybe I would know how I really feel."

"You can't base your feelings on how he feels about you, Sarah. Whether or not he offered his heart to you shouldn't have any say in whether or not you love him."

"I know. I'm just really unsure what it is I feel at all. I mean, how can I love a man like that? He isn't even a man. He's not human. He isn't bound by normal rules and morality. He isn't… He isn't safe."

Sarah's grandmother smiled knowingly. "Sarah, I know someone who knows exactly how you feel. I think I'll give her a call and have her come talk to you. I think she can help you get a better understanding."

Sarah shook her head. "No," she said. "I'd better go. I have studying to do."

"It will only take a minute," her grandmother said. She pulled out a small pad of paper and scribbled down a hasty note. _"Sarah's here"_ the note read.

Sarah was about to ask about the strange note when there was a knock at the door. Her grandmother got up to answer it and came back into the kitchen with a beautiful woman with a wild mane of curly hair. The woman smiled warmly at Sarah.

"Hello again," she said, reaching out to pull Sarah to her chest. "I've missed you so much, Sarah dear."

"Who are you?" Sarah asked, backing away warily.

The woman laughed. "I forget sometimes that I often meet people in the wrong order. You would think I would get used to that, but I never do."

Sarah's grandmother laughed and put an arm around the woman's shoulder.

"Sarah," she said, "I'd like you to meet your aunt, Melody."

"River, if you don't mind, Mummy," the woman requested with a sweet smile.

"Right. He calls you that, doesn't he?"

"Mm hmm…"

Okay then," grunted her grandmother. "Sarah, this is your aunt, River. River Song."

* * *

**A/N:**

**I am really surprised that no one (it seems) has done this yet! I have scoured the internet, but I have not been able to find a story that picks up on the Williams connection, so here is mine. I'm doing my best to leave the guys out of this one because I really want to focus on the ladies. It has been a challenge, but sorry girls, no Doctor and no Goblin King in this one. Send all hate mail to Madame Kovarian c/o The Silence. **

**Fanny**


	2. Part II

"Let me get this straight," Sarah said rubbing her temples. "You and Grandpa had a daughter, but she was kidnapped as a baby and you never told anyone about her?"

"Well, we couldn't, could we?" her grandmother chimed in. "How could we have explained having a baby when no one saw me pregnant? And how could we have explained where she had gone?"

"Right," said Sarah. "Okay, I get that, but why were you kidnapped in the first place?"

She directed the question at her aunt who was dunking a lemon cookie in her cup of tea.

"Because I'm a Time Lord," the woman answered simply.

"Okay…" Sarah drew her response out. "But how do two human people end up conceiving a time travelling alien child?"

River smiled wickedly. "Well, when a mummy and daddy love each other very much and they're inside the Time Vortex-"

"Never mind," Sarah interrupted. "I don't need to know."

She rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger. The story her grandmother and aunt had told her made her story sound like a picnic at the beach: scary aliens that you forgot if you didn't look at them, a doppelganger of her grandmother that travelled with her grandfather while she was held prisoner on another planet, her aunt being ripped away from them before they save her. The most intriguing part of the story was the man who was seemingly at the center of it all, the Doctor. He sounded terrifying, but Sarah's grandmother spoke of him as a friend. Her aunt spoke of him as a lover. Sarah wanted to know more about this alien who travelled through time and space in a box that was bigger on the inside.

"So, AuntRiver," she began. "Tell me more about this Doctor. That is why you're here, right?"

River smiled at her niece. "Yes, Sarah. I want to help you. And the best way I know to do that is to tell you about my own experience loving a man who isn't safe." She paused and took a sip of tea.

"There are always risks involved when it comes to love, and I think no one knows that better than the Williams women, right Mummy?"

Sarah's grandmother laughed and nodded and River continued.

"We tend to fall for wonderful but mad men who aren't quite human and who are never what they seem. Men who are brilliant and beautiful and fierce and wild, who can be gentle as doves one minute and raging storms the next."

Sarah nodded to herself thinking of Jareth's mercurial moods in the short time she was with him. He had been so frightening at first, then almost playful, then seductive, and finally broken and desperate, but still threatening throughout.

"Are you afraid of the Doctor?" Sarah asked her aunt. River chuckled.

"No," she replied. "I know what he's capable of, but I know he'd never harm me. However, I know there is a price in loving him. He is always surrounded by danger and death and oftentimes it's the people closest to him that suffer. He will always fight for the greater good and that sometimes means letting go of those he loves. It breaks his hearts, but he does what he must for what is right."

"What does that have to do with me though?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah," River said with a small smile, "This Goblin King, what do you really know of him?"

"Not much," Sarah answered truthfully. "I interacted with him on a rather limited basis, yet I always felt his presence. I know what the story says of him and I don't think he's really evil or anything, but I know he's not someone I can afford to be naïve around."

"Well, that's a start," said her aunt. "I think though, you should get reacquainted with him."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea. We didn't exactly part on the best of terms and I don't think he _wants_ to get reacquainted. If he did, wouldn't he have come to _me_ by now?"

"Sarah, what was the last thing you told him?" asked her grandmother.

Sarah didn't even have to think; the phrase was now seared in her mind.

_You have no power over me._

"I told him he had no power over…oh. He _can't_ come to me, can he?"

River shook her head. "He can only come to you if you call him, Sarah, and I think you should. Otherwise, you'll always wonder and always question."

"No, I know I did the right thing," Sarah argued, shaking her head. "I had to save Toby. There was no other option!"

"Perhaps not then, but what about now?" asked River.

"River, I really doubt very much that he wants to hear from me."

River winked at her niece. "Oh Sarah, I think Jareth would like to hear from you very much."

Sarah looked up at her aunt in alarm.

"How do you know his name? I didn't tell you his name."

A devilish grin crossed River's face. "Let's just say His Majesty and I go way back, shall we?"

"You what?" Sarah gasped.

"Oh, not like you think, Sarah," River added quickly. "I've just known him for a very long time. You see, when I was very young, I sought asylum in the GoblinKingdom."

Sarah stared at her aunt, not believing what she was hearing.

"I had just undergone my first regeneration and I was in sorry shape, cold and alone with nowhere to go," River continued. "I didn't even really know who or what I was. I was just a helpless child, lost and scared. I made a wish…"

"And the Goblin King came and granted you asylum in the Underground?"

River laughed. "No, silly Sarah. _You_ did."


	3. Part III

"_I?_ How? I don't understand." Sarah put her face in her hands in exasperation.

"I can't tell you anymore than that," said River.

"Why not?"

"Spoilers," River answered flatly.

"This is absolute insanity," Sarah growled. She turned to her grandmother. "We're all nuts, right?" she asked.

Her grandmother smiled and shrugged. "Maybe," she said, "but it beats being normal and boring."

Sarah turned back to her aunt. "So Jareth wants to see me, does he?"

River nodded. "You should call on him Sarah. You know you want to."

"Why are you so interested in me contacting Jareth? Did he put you up to this? Who are you really?" Sarah asked suspiciously.

"I am your aunt, a Time Lord, and a former subject of His Majesty," River stated. She pulled out a silver compact and checked her reflection. "I have my own reasons to insist that you contact Jareth, the first of which being the fact that the two of you have some unresolved emotional issues to work out, the second being that I am a notorious meddler, and lastly is that unless you do I will likely die alone as a lost child because the Goblin Queen didn't intervene." River snapped the compact shut and smiled. "Clear enough?"

Sarah shook her head. "You're telling me that you are here from the future but will die in the past if I don't contact my old nemesis and tell him that I might be in love with him?"

"Now that's not so difficult is it?" asked River smugly. A little smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth and Sarah could see that she most likely had truthfully spent a good deal of time in the presence of that infuriating king of the goblins.

"My head hurts," Sarah groaned. It was all a bit too much for her to take in. Somehow a future version of herself had aided an aunt she didn't know she had but who was actually a time-traveler who was seeking sanctuary from mind-meddling aliens out to kill the man she loved but didn't yet know she loved.

"Wibbly wobbly timey wimey," River chuckled.

"Wait a minute," Sarah said suddenly. "You just said the Goblin Queen intervened for you, Aunt River."

"Yes," River replied.

"But earlier you said _I_ came to you and helped you."

"Yes," River said again with a twinkle in her eye.

"But I'm not the—oh my god." Sarah froze in disbelief and River laughed.

"I told you Jareth wanted to see you very much," she giggled.

"I…I…I have to go…" stammered Sarah. She rose from the table on wobbly knees.

"Yes, you do," River said gently, standing up to steady her. She gave Sarah a warm hug. "I won't see you anymore, Sarah, but you'll see me again and I have a feeling it will be sooner rather than later."

Sarah attempted a weak smile. "I'm still very confused," she admitted.

"Well, don't let that concern you too much. I know it sounds rather cheesy, but follow your heart and things will turn out all well in the end."

"You're like my guardian angel or something, aren't you?" Sarah laughed.

"Yes, just like you were or will be mine depending on whose timeline you look at," answered River.

River turned to her mother and smiled. "Bye Mummy," she told the old woman. "I'll see you somewhere sometime, I suppose. I finally got permission to take my expedition team to The Library."

"Wonderful!" exclaimed her mother. "I know how much you've wanted to dig around there." She turned to Sarah. "I'm sure you can imagine how interesting it would be to explore an entire planet full of books."

Sarah nodded, but decided she would leave that adventure to her aunt. She had a wish to make.

Many years later (or earlier)

Sarah held Melody/River's hand in her own as the mists swirled around them and the Underground disappeared and the Aboveground came into focus.

"Why can't I stay with you and His Majesty?" the young girl asked.

"I can't tell you that, dear," Sarah answered. "I can only tell you that you have to fulfill your destiny and that means coming back here. The king and I have found you a good home with a very nice family. You'll make lots of friends and have wonderful adventures."

"But will I ever see you again?" asked the girl with tears in her eyes.

"Yes, but not for a very long time," said Sarah. "His Majesty and I will be watching over you from a distance."

Sarah squeezed the girl's hand and smiled. They walked in silence for several minutes before they came to a little park.

"We have few minutes before we're due to meet your new parents," Sarah told the girl. "Do you want to play for a bit?"

The little girl nodded and began walking toward the swings. Sarah watched as she sat down in the swing, but didn't push off. A movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and Sarah smiled as a little girl with fiery red hair approached the lonely girl on the swing.

"Hey, you're new," said the red-haired girl. "I'm Amelia." She pointed to some monkey bars where a skinny boy with sandy hair was hanging upside-down. "That's Rory. Do you wanna play with us?"

River/Melody nodded and smiled back at Sarah before running off to play. Sarah sighed and shook her head, still disbelieving the turn of events that had brought her back to the Goblin Kingdom and to Jareth. It seemed like a lifetime since she had had that fateful conversation with River and her grandmother and now here were her grandparents and aunt all playing together as children though none of them really knew. Sarah knew it was only a matter of time before River would be contacted again by the Silence and Madame Kovarian, but she took some comfort in the fact that she had already seen what River would become. She knew better than to tell River too much about her future. River didn't even know then that the Goblin Queen was her niece.

Sarah smiled to herself. She had done what she could. It was up to River and her grandparents and the mysterious Doctor to make sure that events unfolded the way they should. And while River certainly wasn't one to play by the rules (she grew up in the Court of the Goblin King, after all,) Sarah had a feeling that the Doctor would be able to keep her in check and that River would do the same for him.

The shouts of children roused Sarah from her thoughts and she looked up to see her beloved little trio rambling along the banks of the little stream that ran through the park. Amelia's hat had blown off into the stream and Rory had jumped in to fetch it, but had gotten stuck in the mud. Amelia had slid down the muddy bank and pulled Rory up and out and they were both now soaked and covered in mud from head to toe.

Sarah laughed at them and at herself, at all of them continually rescuing and being rescued by one another. She was happy knowing the part she played would ensure that the pattern would continue. She had saved River from death and River would save Sarah from a life of loneliness and regret and together they would all have a part in saving the world again and again. River was right; all would be well.

The End

* * *

**A/N:**

**That ends my first ever crossover fic! I had a lot of fun writing it, although some of the timeline issues gave me a headache. You like? Please review! **


End file.
